2. The Buddha

In his quest to uncover the truth about the nature of existence and his wish to find the way to end the unbearable suffering of beings, the Indian prince Siddhartha, two and a half thousand years ago, renounced the Shakya kingdom of his father and joined the legions of wandering spiritual seekers. After six years of intensive study and practice with the greatest yogis and scholars, at the age of thirty-five his journey took him to Bodhgaya, on the banks of Nairanjana River. He sat under a bodhi tree, in perfect meditation, with his right hand touching the earth, vowing to never give up until he achieved his goal. “The earth is my witness,” he said. He became a Buddha: he had utterly eradicated from his mind all traces of ego and a separate sense of self; he had developed to perfection all goodness. He became known as Shakyamuni – the Great Shakya. He spent the rest of his life, until the age of 80, teaching others how to achieve this goal, the natural potential of all of us to be liberated from all miseries and to achieve infinite happiness and fulfillment. Shakyamuni Buddha is depicted in the sutra aspect, as a monk. His body is radiant golden light, and his eyes half open and half closed show that he sees all conventional and ultimate reality simultaneously. He is the manifestation of the entire path to enlightenment. By reciting the mantra of Shakyamuni Buddha we become undaunted in our joyful effort, the courage to never give up in the achievement of our own marvelous potential, for our own sake and the sake of others.